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Toddler Talk: An Adventure Party & Picnic

Last weekend we celebrated my daughter's birthday by throwing her an adventure party! She is quite the adventure girl, so we had the party at one of her favorite places: a nearby state park. We went on a scavenger hunt with friends and enjoyed a picnic-style dinner followed by birthday presents and birthday cake. It was simple, but so fun, and she loved every minute of it! Here are some of the details...

The adorable invitations and scavenger hunt lists were designed by a friend of mine, Grace & Madd Paperie. I loved the adventure party invites she made! Instead of renting a shelter, we simply set up "camp" right in the middle of the picnic area at the state park. I brought just one table for food, and everyone else brought chairs or blankets. We were blessed with beautiful 70-degree weather, which made for a perfect autumn adventure.

The adventure cake was made by yours truly. I made the animal cake toppers by purchasing a package of plastic animals from the craft store, then simply spray-painting them gold. My daughter said the moose was her favorite!

Since the party was away from our house, I had to think about easily transporting the food. So, we went with picnic-style grub. We had trail mix for our scavenger hunt (which was a kid-friendly mix of Rice Chex, pretzels, raisins, M&M's, and tiny marshmallows) and sack lunches for dinner. Kiddos had good peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, and the adults had salami and turkey ciabatta sandwiches with homemade garlicky cream. Everyone enjoyed handpicked apples and pretzel crisps, as well. For drinks, we had juice bags, sweet tea and water.

As soon as the guests arrived, we set out on a family scavenger hunt. Since most of the kids were two and under, it wasn't the most competitive thing. Instead, we all adventured together. We hiked and climbed to the cave, ventured to the rock bridge, saw a bat, collected leaves and more. We were right in my daughter's stomping grounds, so she was pretty much loving it. She kept saying over and over, "I am so excited!"